Nil: A World Beyond Belief Paperback – April 26, 2005

As an artist myself, I couldn't help but be completely stunned at the amazing depth that the creator, James Turner, gave to such a unique version of Hell. Inhabited by Nihilists, this circle of hell is appropriately goth and black, but the graphic design style continues to tickle your eyeballs with geometric buildings, unicycled tanks, and stylistic columns with sharp-angled skulls on the bases, and skull pattern motifs upon the walls. This is not only a comic that I want to read, but I want to ANIMATE it, as well. Filled with tons of additional little speeches and Memes floating about perpetually, it always has additional Easter Eggs for you to discover or go back and find.

Incredibly illustrated book, apparently inspired by Russian Constructivism and modernist design, but the story is somewhat poor. In the opening pages, Proun and his frightfully indistinguishable co-workers line up to enter massively elegant multitude of factories. The despairing mood is not alleviated even by the Shakespearean humor: "From dreams to drudgery" Proun sighs. But the reigning nihilism is kept in place by a deconstruction ship? Called Derrida? Is James Turner lamenting a past before French philosophy threw doubt on the claims of certainty and, apparently, optimism? Wait, what would that past be - the first or second world war? The fat 50s? The pasting of famous names on machines is not really consistent. The allegory is thin and unconvincing, making me think that Turner must have a grudge against philosophers like Foucault and Derrida. Identifying such thinkers as the machines of tyranical nihilism is unnecessarily distracting and just doesn't make sense for anyone acquainted with what stands behind the proper names. This is what spoils a potentially perfectly enjoyable book. That said, the novel is visually immaculate.

I loved this book! The Art IS UNBELIVABLE. Some Mix between RUssian Constructivism and BAuhaus, All Black and white ,very cinematic panels.The story is very entertaining, centering on ,yea you guessed it!! NIHILISM and the philosophy of the absurd!!..A must buy for anyone interested in very original and artistic comics!!

Don't get the impression that this is a serious allegory of conflicting ideologies. This is a dark comedy that plays with the silliness of taking almost anything seriously, against a backdrop of rickety victorian dystopia. The artwork alone is worth the price, but the story is quietly very funny.

I don't have a single negative thing to say about this book. Everything is excellent. The artwork is fantastic and it really grew on me. The test itself is very well written, and if looked at closely, could raise quite a few eyebrows. I can (and have) read this book over and over again, it's that good.